PRE-PAID FUNERAL PLANS

The safe, simple way to secure peace of mind for you and your family, with your local independent funeral director.

Our plans provide an easy way to organise your arrangements in advance, specify your wishes and take care of the costs. It’s a chance to avoid the rising costs of funerals and gain peace of mind, for you and the ones you care about.

A plan can save your family worry and expense, and help make things easier for your loved ones at a difficult time. As our plan holders often tell us, it can be a weight off your mind.

More than half a million people have taken out a funeral plan with Golden Charter.

We believe that the Independent Way Funeral Plan, which is available only through independent funeral directors such as ourselves, offers you significant advantages over other plans. The following pages explain the reasons why.

Planning your funeral the Independent Way

With the Independent Way plan, we will make sure that your loved ones will be spared much of the stress and uncertainty of organising a funeral. You’ll have specified every detail in advance and taken care of all the costs that are within our control.

A guarantee that covers all our services

No matter how much our services may rise in cost in years to come, once your plan is fully in place, neither you nor your loved ones will be asked for a penny more for them. It’s a guarantee that gives you peace of mind. You can be assured that your family will be spared what could be a financial worry.

There are some costs that we are obliged to pay on your behalf. These third party costs include the charges of cemeteries or crematoria and the fees of clergy or officiants. The amount of this expenditure is not within our control and may require a further payment at the time of need.

A sound financial decision

When you take out an Independent Way plan, you have the reassurance that your money is protected. You select how you wish to pay for your plan and, depending on your choice, your money is paid into the Golden Charter Trust or to one of the UK’s leading life assurance companies.

Your money grows and, when the time comes, we receive the payment, including any growth, and use this money to provide the agreed services to your family. No matter how much costs have risen in the intervening period, your loved ones will not be asked for a penny more for the guaranteed services included within your plan.

The Golden Charter Trust

The Board of Trustees has appointed a wide panel of Fund Managers who invest the funds in a cautious and balanced manner. Barnett Waddingham of Glasgow, the consulting actuaries, appraise the fund performance regularly.

Protection against rising funeral costs

Back in 2004, an average funeral cost around £1,920. However, recent research† shows the average cost of a funeral in the UK is now £3,693 – an increase of 92% in 11 years, well above the general level of inflation.

If this trend continues, the average cost of a funeral in 2025 will be £6,713*. Paying in advance for your funeral is a sensible decision that will save money, benefiting your family or estate. We guarantee that, as long as your plan is paid for, there’ll be nothing more to pay for your funeral director’s services included in the plan.

A real alternative to saving

We believe a funeral plan offers a better option than saving for your funeral. In 2004, if you had put £1,920 (then the average cost of a funeral) into a building society, you would have seen it grow to only £2,177** over the next 11 years. However, with the average cost of a funeral now £3,693, your family would have to find an additional £1,516, at a very difficult time.

Your wishes fulfilled by a proven partnership

Most people don’t want to think about arranging their own funeral, which is only natural. But there is some quiet satisfaction to be gained from putting your affairs in order and reflecting on the most appropriate arrangements. Many personal decisions have to be made.

Your wishes are special – and you can be sure we will carry them out to the letter in association with Golden Charter, a British-owned and run company.

Funeral directors’ services typically include:

• Professional charges. These represent a high proportion of a funeral director’s costs and include making all the arrangements for cremation or burial

• Conveyance of the deceased from the place of death to the funeral director’s premises, a chapel of rest or other suitable location

• Caring for the deceased with full attention to hygienic needs

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